The Great Barrier Skull

Wednesday, March 10, 2010 - 10:17 AM

Last Sunday, I visited Volta NY to get my contemporary-art fix. The room was tightly packed with nearly a hundred solo exhibits. Visually exhausted after walking aimlessly for over an hour, I was struck by the simple (and eerie) beauty of one piece – a skull suspended in a tank of salt water with corals growing out of various crevices: sprouting from an eye socket and the nose and rising out of the top of its head like hair and out of its jaw like teeth.

'Nowhere to Be Found,' is by Mathias Kessler. He designed five of these biomorphic pieces and is very protective over their futures. Before he'll sell you one, he requests something of an interview to ensure you understand the responsibility to care for the corals. I suppose for him it's a bit like letting a child you've raised and nurtured grow up and leave home – is it all that surprising that he wants to chat with the new parents?